Rivals
by Cafe.nina
Summary: A wise Keyblade Master and his two teenage apprentices, who are constantly at each others throats. Will they ever learn to get along?
1. Prologue

**Hi, so hey kinda new here, hoping this turned out okay(First time I've done something like this).  
I don't know why I just thought I'd give it a shot. Set in the time before Birth by Sleep so kinda my  
Prequel to a Prequel, and of course enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Kingdom Hearts, except a t-shirt.**

**-Prologue-**

"Master, Master Eraqus!" a voice cried, a boy, even though he was screaming it still came across muffled. He was close, very close, but he still sounded rattled.

She couldn't understand why? She was so numb, nothing felt right. Something must be happening, maybe if she opened her eyes...

No, she couldn't, all that black. All around her crushing, pulling her down deeper till their was no more noise, no voices, even she hadn't been able to make a sound. It chilled her to the bone, like someone dunked her under freezing water and she could not go up no matter how much she craved air.

"Master! Come on, hurry!" No, just another horrible trick her head played with her, she curled herself tightly against her own chest, _I won't look again,_ she felt tears burning her closed eyelids. _I can't.._.

"Hey, p-please don't," The boy again still stammering, but quieter this time. "Don't cry," he entreated her softly.

She uncurled a little, _was he talking to me?_ Her chin moved away from her chest. She felt the thumping of earth in her left ear; then heard someone else, this time less muffled.

"Terra, what has gotten into-" The deep rumbling voice stopped suddenly, another one?

"I was running my laps when I saw her lying there," The boy explained. "She was crying." A deep 'Hmm' followed then she felt someone crouch beside her, carefully. Still she shivered visibly, quick jerking motions all down her spinal column. _Are you real?_

She was to afraid to ask, for these faint traces of light to be ripped out of her wanting hands, to end up right back into endlessness.

Then very faintly she heard a shushing sound from the older man. "Don't be afraid, my dear, I have no intention of hurting you." She felt his hand touch hers lightly, a strange warmth seeped into her finger tips, a _light._

She opened her eyes squinting in the harsh midday sun, someone moved to block it with their shadow, the boy. She raised her head slowly his sharp cobalt eyes studied her closely, watching her warily, from mistrust or care she didn't know.

What she did know is for someone his age he was certainly built...well. Brawny shoulders leading to equally rugged, tanned arms, he was already very tall with his darkened hair cropped and spiking wildly with just enough of it cooperating to frame the sides of his face, the light perspiration on his brow hardly seemed to faze it.

A warm smile lit his strong features when he noticed her eyeing him just as cautiously. She glanced a little more to her right, to the Master. He was tall, even crouched next to her she could tell, strong too even if his nude robe tried masking the fact. His black hair was bound messily behind his head with a stray strand brushed to the side, with an equally dark mustache under his nose and a small triangular shaped patch under his lip.

Her eyes grew round when she saw two jagged scars marring his sagacious face, one running down the left side of his face from his cheekbone with the other over his right eyebrow down a little past his steel eyes.

She shot a glance back into his eyes he was just letting her take them in, everything. She felt her cheeks warm, she was being so rude staring at them like this, she looked down his hand was still with hers.

She carefully pulled away and sat up slowly. Her head felt so heavy she almost wished she'd stayed down. She shook her head desperate to clear these cobwebs, she began to run her hands through the green turf, it felt comforting. _Their's so much light here, in them, this place. Where-_

A throat cleared, her head whipped to the boy causing a small shot of pain make her wrinkle her forehead. He had an amused look on his face; a small smile creeping onto his lips "So you just gonna skip the part where you tell us who you are?"

"Terra!" The Master snapped.

"What? She's the one who's being all cryptic!" He tosses back, his smile was gone now. If her cheeks had been pink before you could bet munny that they were nearly magenta now. The man gives a slow shake of his head, disappoint creasing his face.

"It appears our 'talks' on conduct, especially the conduct of a gentleman, have again flown right over your head." 'Terra' just folds his arms over his chest, unfazed, and she thinks she saw an eye roll.

"Maybe, I just wanna know her name! Is that too much to ask?"

"Aqua,"

"Huh?" His dark head swung to look at the girl.

"What did you say?"

She had stopped looking down at the lawn, and gave them both measured looks to the eyes, her cheeks not quite so crimson anymore.

"Aqua," she repeated, they both watched her silently. "Is my name."

* * *

**So, first off thank you for reading this far. Tell me if I did good, I'll need plenty of praise to continue.**

**Did I not do so good? Tell me that as well, I came here for constructive criticism, and I intend to get my fair shake.****"My body is ready"..As is my head.**

**NO flames (If your new, it just basically CC but without the constructive part) first and last time I want to say this.**

**Also I know the title says 'Rivals'(Very clever, I know), and my summery says it upfront, but not much rivalry stuff yet. **

**Hang in there with me I will start getting around to it soon-ish. I've all ways been a fan of TerraXAqua pairings, but you might not see too much of that here, I dunno pretty early. Review Please!**

***Editing:** just some spacing between paragraphs (I'll try and be better about catching that next time :P)


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or this picture that I'm currently using.**

**Also about this picture, that**** I'd like to get off my chest. I don't see Terra and Aqua at this age, (Even if it's awesome, and I'd love to give the artist heaps of credit) it's more or less what I imagine their clothes to be like at this point (Getting more details through the years, and eventually ending up in their Birth by Sleep outfits.).**

**I kinda see them as teenagers at this point, 14-15, which is a personal preference, and the ages I'm going to stick around for a while.**

**Anyway, please Enjoy!**

_**~ Ch 1.**_

Clang!

Terra leaped back from his inanimate opponent, eyeing his target warily, searching for the next best strike. He fell into an attack stance, just as taught, as the golden training ring in front of him swung erratically from its chain. His eyes narrow dangerously, locking in hard on the shimmering loop, as it rapidly swings back towards his head. He deftly sidesteps away, and it misses, just inches from his chest.

He gives a small huff of exertion, the midday heat catching up with him already, as he slides into its path. Cracking a slightly cocky smile as he tightens his grip on Earthshaker. The yellow band whirls about again, and he sprints to meet it in the middle. Heat or no heat, he was ending this, now. He raises his weapon over his shoulder for the final strike and...

"Gotcha!" _C-CLANG!_ Was the satisfying response he got as he connected with the top of his rival. He crouched low at the end of his swing, as the hoop continued to swing haphazardly around him. Watching his sweat patter to the ground, he grinned satisfied. The tingling running up his keyblade, and the quiet ringing of his "training partner" told him his hit was more than successful.

He dismissed Earthshaker, and heaving a sigh of exhaustion rolled back to lay on the rough ground. He had been training, since after breakfast, without stopping, once. He took a swipe at the warm liquid on his forehead_, _pushing up a stray spike of hair. _I wonder if, the Master was watching me._ He gave a huff of indignation, there's a laugh, and dare to leave the Queen's side for more then five minute? Perish the thought.

He turned over to his side and started messing with the grass. It wasn't that he hated her, the truth being he had wanted to help her, when she arrived she had seemed so tiny and weak. She'd been laying there, motionless, when he tried to talk to her. Even after she'd opened her eyes it was trouble to get her to say anything to them.  
_Aqua, I_ _wonder_... He felt his eyebrows draw together as a small bead of sweat trickled between them.  
_Where did you come from?_

He ripped a tender green shoot in half, straight down the center of the stalk.

Not that he would know anything about her, that had been almost a week ago. He had asked her a couple of questions, but then Master Eraqus shooed him off. Told him this wasn't the best time for that, that she was still very weak. Eraqus had then whispered a few words to her, which she quickly agreed to. Then he scooped her up, and they disappeared into one of the many rooms of the castle, a few doors away from his. After that he never saw her again; only saw the Master when he had to, and then only briefly.

Which meant no training, which meant almost nothing to do, except review what he already knew, and that was already boring. He needed to confront the Master about this, or at least find out what was going on in there. His eyes practically rolled into his head at the thought of the numerous excuses of the Master's. He would probably tell him to read a book, work on his magic. He glared darkly at the nearest clump of dandelions._ Yeah right, the only reason I'd learn any magic would be to burn the stupid-_

"Hey, Terra," At the sound of her voice, he was fairly certain he jumped about three feet in the air while lying down. He flipped over quickly to face her, and scramble together some dignity. Instead he saw someone that made the snappy comeback on his lips, something about sneaking up on people, and how they don't appreciate it, quickly vanish. An almost completely different girl standing where Aqua should have been.

The first thing he noticed were her clothes, she didn't wear the same rags she'd shown up in, these were much nicer, more appropriate for The Land of Departure. The main top was black, sleeveless, and it hugged her close, with equally dark stockings reaching toward tight, black training shorts. About the only thing it looked like she had had a say in were a couple of blue sashes dangling from her hips, nothing too fancy, he decided. Still compared to a while ago this was, different.

Not only that she seemed healthier too, a slight tinge of pink to her cheeks, azure hair neatly swept to the side, and her eyes they were brighter and alive, not dull like before. He was starting to think her smile was getting bigger as he stared, that was nice too. He tried to mask his surprise quickly, by staring at more grass, he didn't want to offend someone he'd know for about five minutes. Plus if the Master had seen him gawking like that he'd have gotten a tongue-lashing, and probably a hundred push ups.

_Say something you idiot, she looks nice! Girls like hearing that. _He found himself inwardly agreeing and opened his mouth, when he saw her shoulders start shaking.

"Are you okay?" The shaking only got worse, and she was making a little gasping sound too. He started to stand, getting nervous, but she waved him off.

"I'm f-fine," A small laugh escaped her lips, and she quickly pressed the back of her hand against them. His eyebrows raised, and he blew out a sigh, she was only laughing._ Good you're not having a panic attack_, _right?_ He shook his head, her giggling starting to seep a smile out of him, regardless of it being an inside joke.

"Okay, what's so funny?" Her laughter grew even louder, and she stopped trying to stifle it. He also noticed she was trying even harder not to look at him; then it made sense, she was laughing at him.

Very quickly his smile faded, and was quite rapidly replaced with annoyance. He stood up quickly, and folded his arms over his chest, trying to glare her into silence again. This hardly fazed her, she caught a glimpse of his scowl, and it only caused her to double over, panting slightly with her hands on her knees. She tried staring at her feet to avoid more laughter, but that's when he caught her grinning with unbound satisfaction on her face.

"It wasn't that funny!" He snapped at her, already kicking himself for not listening to the Master's lesson of thinking more of his surroundings._ Did this lesson happen to include freaky blue-haired teenage girls, Master?_ He looked down, kicking the dandelions this time.

"I-I'm sorry, Terra," she choked out, but the laughter in her voice was still there.

"You just seem so-" She searched for the proper word as he glanced up from his weed killing, but suddenly a look of urgency came over her face.

"Terra!"

"What?" Her tone wasn't joking, and he started turning to where she'd been looking over his shoulder.

"Ter-" _Clang!_ "-ra."

He cried out loudly, and clutched the right side of his head where the ring had landed. His free hand snatches the metal loop from its swaying, and he tightens his grip to stay standing. He winces as it throbs against his finger tips already feeling a large bump. How could he have forgotten about the ring? He must have hit it so hard it kept swinging, and it still had enough power to give him this lump? He moans, letting go of the golden hoop, and sinking to the ground. He'll have to be impressed with himself later.

He realizes that Aqua's come next to him in all this, looking very concerned.

"Terra, I'm so sorry! I should have said something sooner, I-" She goes quiet when she sees him shaking his head. He doesn't notice her biting her lip, guiltily. Instead he watches her hand wander over the training ring that hit him, and her brow knitting in a quiet thought.

"Did you do that?" She murmured almost inaudibly, that or his head was still ringing.

Without looking, he knows what she means, and nods, resulting in Aqua gazing at the gleaming loop in disbelief. Her hands stretch up to top of the ring, and her fingers run across where its only fault lies. A descent sized, crooked dent, from his earlier hit. She heaved a small sigh of, sadness, longing? Something he couldn't really recognize, and she bends down on her knees next to him.

He watches her stretch out a delicate hand towards him, slowly. He narrows his eyes, and turns away from her, unconvinced by her gentleness. He had put a dent in that thing, he could lick his own wounds. It felt small, but he was still mad at what had happened.

"Terra," She extended her hand a little closer. "Let me see."

He touches the tender spot again; sees those bright blue eyes, and can't hold back the angry, pain-induced reply.

"I think you've helped me enough for today, thank you!" He turned to her sharply, wincing even if his hand cupped the side of his head. He watched her flinch and pull away, yet her hurt expression didn't stop him.

"You came up here to mess with me, right? Well, then, great job!" He stood up, and refused to be dizzy in front of her, to show any more chinks in his armor. Half of him really couldn't understand why he was so mad at her, but the other half just got nailed in the side of the head, and was to ticked off to care. He watched her shocked expression change into a defensive one, as she stands up next to him.

"I didn't come here to mess with you!" She could barely keep from snarling, which earned her a distrustful look.

She only shakes her head in frustration. "You think I wanted this to happen to you, Terra?" He sees her slim shoulders deflate softly, and he feels his anger deflate, a little.

Her next words were barely whispered. "I just wanted to be friends."

He turns away, trying not to soften to her voice, why had he completely blown up about this? It had hurt, but that wasn't her fault, really.

He felt his heart throb slightly inside his chest, he knew why, he had know this whole time, and now he was trying not think about it._ Because I know you can't stay. _He notices she's still watching him, and his pained look deepens. _Because I know we can never be real friends, when you'll just have to leave anyway. _He closed his eyes tiredly, he couldn't believe he had figured it out so late. He realized the Master had even tried to spare him this realization, kept her away from him.  
_I can't have friends, I can't, I've always been alone in this._ He didn't turn around; he didn't apologize to her, instead his hands tightened into fists.  
_You don't have to understand everything, but you have to know, it can't be any other way._

"It doesn't matter what you wanted," He sees her look up at him in confusion, and he locks hold of her eyes.

"You can't stay," His fists release the tension in them, and he steps forward right in her face to get his point across.

"And I'm not your friend." His voice was full of such venom, he almost convinced himself. Her eyes flicker back and forth searching for some sort of sympathy, but he knew she wouldn't find any.

_You can't have friends. It's one stupid girl! She'll leave and things will go back the way they were. You need to train, you need to become a Master. She'll only weaken you, distract you, get in the way. You're better off._ His head told him he was right, now if his heart would agree.

Her eyes are wide now, understanding telling her he's serious, and she backs away softly. He watches her, a muscle fidgeting under the clench in his jaw. _You don't need friends, Terra._ She stops and stands stock still a few feet away from him, he swallows hard. _This is why you're with the Master, alone._ Her chin drops quickly to her chest, but not before he sees the distressed look in her eyes. _Did the Master not explain everything to you?_ That look nearly makes him crumble anyway, but he knows he can't go back anymore.

"Ah, there you are," He jumped at his Master's voice, what was it with people today? And he bows low at the waist, right fist pressing into his left shoulder. He tried to think he did it with respect in mind, but it felt almost remorseful.

There's a deep chuckle. "Looks as if someone found his manners. Really, Terra, there is no need." He rightens quickly a small smile forced onto his face. The Master nods casually, and looks at Aqua. Terra noticed how quickly his Master knew something was off with her.

"Aqua? Are you-" Her head shot up, and she interrupted him.

"Fine, Master, and you?" She did fake cheery well, but the Master still looked thoughtful. He watched the two of them closely, steel eyes slightly narrowed.

"Well?" He asked slowly, Terra felt like he'd missed something.

"Well, what, Master?" The Master part came on a little later than he wanted, but only because a thousand questions rattled in the back of his head. _Was he taking her now? Is she even supposed to be out here? Should I not have pushed her away?_ He begged to...anyone that that last one wasn't a yes. The older man looked between the two of them again, this time more lightly, before shaking his head in surprise.

"I figured you'd be more excited, Terra. Aqua certainly was." A quick look was cast to Aqua, she ignored him. He felt his confusion rising, he was definitely missing something. Master Eraqus, sensing the gap in information smiled, his gaze falling on Aqua with a knowing nod. She returned it slowly, then held out her right hand so that it was even with her shoulders. Terra hardly kept control of his jaw at the sight of delicate rose petals, and a quick flash of light; then there it was. A mixture of blue, grey, and silver, with a crown shaped tip, in the very familiar form of a large lock opening device, lay Aqua's Keyblade.

"I would like you to meet our newest student." Aqua and Terra were strangely silent.

"Don't worry, Terra, in time I'm sure she'll become a better sparrer than your old training partners." Master Eraqus gestured to the training rings and chuckled, but both teens were still silent. Him thinking about all he had said to her, and her about what she would do with her new "training partner".

* * *

**Thanks for reading! (or skipping to the end :P) Man, I really didn't want to wait so long with an update, Hmm. My gift for waiting on me is an extra long chapter, seriously look at that sucker.**

**As for my tardiness?**

**Blame it on being sick and vacationing, you don't want to read anything I write under the ****influence of a 105 fever, bleh. VERY special thanks goes to Masterboy9 and The Trio Of Twilight, for reviewing and favoriting.**

**I'm so Flattered! Had to do that at least once, for you, TTOT. :D**

**And a small thank you to those of you who stalked, but didn't Review...Yes, I can see you too.**

Editing: I came here to fix a couple of 'their's' to 'there's' (thanks for catching that by the way...), And ended up messing around with almost the whole story, yeah oops. Darn you perfectionism! Well maybe Terra seems a little less jerky and a little more lonely, y'know hopefully. Thanks again!


	3. Chapter 2

**I know, I know, I took forever with this, and it's not even that long! What. The. Heck. :-[**

**I must be coming down with a case of writers block, ****because the first part of this was horrifying to write.  
I don't even know why, I just was never happy with it. Even now I'm kinda, meh, but maybe the second part will help make up for it. *shrugs***

**Disfrutar! (Enjoy!)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, you know unless we're in my fantasy.**

**~ Ch 2.**

Aqua lay staring fixedly towards her new bedroom wall, squeezing her soft new sheets tightly in her hands. She pushed her feet out from under the mounds of blankets Master Eraqus had brought her, enjoying the cooler air of the castle between her toes. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she had slept in a bed as nice as this, with sheets so comfy and _clean_, if ever.

The same probably went for the room itself too.

Her eyes closed briefly, sleep threatening to pull her back under. Eight days, and it still took some adjusting to. So much information she had had to swallow down, the hardest had been the one about different worlds.  
Then all this talk about Keyblade's, light and dark, Kingdom Hearts? She would just have to get used to it all.  
Maybe the Master had a book on the subject, or many books on the multiple subjects.

_Worlds, as in more than one, realms of Light and of Dark, but also realms in between those. Like The Land of Departure, Wait, weren't the Worlds all whole to begin with? Right, then they split into pieces because of, um...Ugh!_

She had done a lot of listening over the past few days, and the Master had done a lot of explaining. At first he made her aware of Keyblade's, and of being a Master and Terra his student.  
In return she told him things about her world, all that she could remember.  
All her older memories were intact, but surprisingly she couldn't remember her last moments before finding the Land of Departure. Just faint images of home, then waking up surrounded by so much emptiness.

She did notice when she got to the part about the void she had been in. The Master had become deathly quiet and ridged, his steel eyes seemed lost in memories. He then tried quickly to replaced it with a smile, and reassured her that they would get her home whenever she felt well enough again.  
She loosened her grip on the sheets so she could run her hands over her bumpy arms, still not quiet over the memory of that dark place.

On the fourth day the Keyblade appeared, her Keyblade.

She grinned a little at the memory of the Master's face, he'd nearly dropped the whole tray of tea he was carrying, while she sat there in bed barely awake with a Keyblade shimmering in her hand.  
To bad he hadn't dropped it, she wasn't a fan of green teas.  
After that the Master gave her a little more in depth explanation, and asked, if she wished to be schooled in the art of the Keyblade.  
So, now the Land of Departure was her home, and she was a Keyblade wielder.

_Keyblade's, mysterious weapons made of...magic? _Aqua wrinkled her nose, her Keyblade didn't feel like magic, it felt natural, like she had had it forever. _Maybe I've always had it, and being here brought it out of me.  
_That seemed to make the most sense, what with before never having even heard of a Keyblade. She'd still have to ask the Master about it.

_Keyblade wielders or Bearers of the Key, people chosen by the Keyblade to defend the Realms of Light.  
Keyblade Masters, Key wielders given the title 'Master", and permission to train other Keyblade wielders, after completing the Mark of Mastery Examination. _When she had asked what a Mark of Mastery Examination was, the Master had given her a small smile saying she and Terra wouldn't have to worry about it for a long while.  
_Terra_.

She sat up quickly, trying not to think about a certain brawny, brown haired, Keyblade wielder.  
Whom, by judging what he had said to her yesterday, absolutely wanted nothing to do with her. She heaved a small sigh while tugging off her pjs and replacing them with the cloths that Master Eraqus had given her.  
Today was their first sparring match, and she wasn't looking forward to it. She walked over to her gigantic oak dresser, which she knew she'd never be able to fill, and snatched up her frilly new sashes, pausing to inhale them deeply.

She noticed they smelt strikingly like the Master's robe when he had carried her up to her room.  
_They really could use a woman's touch here, I mean even the soap is manly.  
_She smiled a little, and laughed, thinking about the Master walking around the Land of Departure smelling like roses.  
Getting her mind off Terra helped with her nerves, but she knew she couldn't avoid him forever. They were going to train together, probably for a long time, avoiding him wouldn't solve anything.

She tied her sashes firmly around her waist, still she wondered what had happened to that boy she met that had, at least, seemed excited that she was here. He wasn't jealous was he? He couldn't be, he hadn't even know she had a Keyblade then.  
Maybe he was mad about the training ring incident, she tried to avoid that line of thinking.  
The ring made her think of Terra, and Terra's incredible skill. Which called to mind her own skill (almost none) with the Keyblade, and how effortless his strikes had looked yesterday.  
How he had put a dent in a huge metal loop with just one hit...

She shook her head roughly, like it would clear all her negative thoughts, she couldn't keep thinking like this. She was a Keyblade wielder whether Terra liked it or not.  
Obviously not, but she wasn't going anywhere, anytime soon, and neither was he.  
Besides the Master wouldn't let him do anything to her, it was her first day, and he had shown her a few things so she wouldn't feel completely useless.

She snatched the brush off her tiny vanity, and began attempting to tame her short blue mane with frantic strokes. If she was going to spar with Terra, then she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of being late.

...

By mid afternoon, she found out she could completely care less about Terra's opinion.  
She adjusted her grip on her weapon, and shakily brushed a sweaty strand of hair out of her eyes. Master Eraqus was watching their "session" closely, but she could tell his main focus was on her.  
He stayed standing to the side of their sparring ring, which was a huge stone circle at the front of the castle. He wore a very calm expression, despite the fact that she wasn't doing too well.

Her legs felt incredibly weak, just as shaky as her hands, and her chest felt like it was caving in on itself, making breathing next to impossible. She took a swipe across her forehead, only to bring it back salty and damp.  
This morning the courtyard had seemed perfect for sparring in, the sun barely over the horizon, with a light refreshing breeze against her back.  
If the weather had been like that all day, maybe sparring wouldn't have been so awful, maybe even enjoyable.

_Enjoyable? It must have been early in the morning.  
_That had been hours ago, the early morning breeze had died, and now she could practically feel the sun frying the skin on her back.  
However it seemed her fellow trainee had long since gotten used to the climate. Terra had barely a drop of perspiration on his forehead.

He was standing several paces away from her, listening intently to Master Eraqus while he explained something about different Keyblade techniques.  
She was having a tough time processing the Masters words right now, what with her pulse pounding in her ears. She did note, with a fair amount of irritation, that Terra seemed completely relaxed.  
His shoulder were slackened, his breathing looked normal, she could have sworn that a few minute ago, she had been trying to whack him with her Keyblade.  
Oh, not really whack him, _of course_, just nudge him a little.

His eyes swiveled over to hers, and she looked away quickly, trying to focus on getting air back into her lungs. He had an unsettling ability to know exactly when she was looking at him.  
He had such an intense gaze, and those brilliant blue eyes didn't help matters. If he did notice anything though, he didn't react, in fact his face looked incredibly neutral.

"Master?" When Terra spoke, Master Eraqus turned to his veteran student with a questioning gaze.

"Yes, Terra?"

"Are we-" He paused and glanced her way, but she could only return a confused stare.

"Yes, Terra, what is it?" Master Eraqus clearly hadn't missed the look between the two of them. He had an eyebrow cocked suspiciously, while waiting for Terra to finish.  
Terra heaved a weighted sigh, and turned away from her again, hoisting his Keyblade to rest lazily on one shoulder.  
She narrowed her eyes, If Terra was acting strange enough that even Master Eraqus was suspicious, then it probably didn't bode well for her.  
_What are you trying to say?_ _It must be about me since you're-_

"Are we done yet?" Okay, scratch the strangeness, replace it with flat out arrogance, and a slight edge of boredom. The Master wore a shocked expression on his face at Terra's forwardness, and she figured that she had a very similar expression on as well. Master Eraqus's surprised looked quickly shifted into something much more stern.

"Terra, it's unacceptable to treat your opponents in this manner, in a real fight you would never do something so disrespectful and reckless," He motioned to Terra's comfortable position.  
"Look, should you choose to take such a stance in battle, Aqua would have an immense advantage over you."

She could feel her teeth grinding against each other, and her hands squeezing tightly enough to drain the blood from her knuckles. _Not only reckless, but I'd probably be tempted to bash your head in with my Keyblade!  
_She had to admit after a comment like that, it was hard not to run right up to him and do so.  
She slowly, very slowly, released a heavy sigh of her own. _No, I won't do that, the Master would be so disappointed in me, and Terra would have-_

"Last time I checked, Master, she kinda needs the advantage."

...

_Oh, that's it!_

Sweaty, tired, weak kneed, pulse pounding in her head or not, Terra was about to get it!

* * *

**Ooo****, Terra you gonna get an Aquaaaaaa chop! ;D (A cookie to people who get that)**

**And...done. Not so bad, right? Surprisingly, as painful as I made writing this sound, I'm happy with the length of this. My prologue was too short, Chapter 1 was a little long for my taste, so I think I'll stay around this length.  
**

**So now I can't be lazy, but I won't go crazy :P. Wait till school starts again, then I'll really be cranking it out (not)! Heh, you wait the minute school does start, I'll get a train wreck of inspiration.**

**But, before I disappear again, for who knows how long, I would like to thank all of you people reading this for 200+ views! Which not only is incredibly impressive, it's nice to know people are actually looking at my stuff!**

**Muchas gracias! (Many thanks!) Review if you please :D**


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